Railway car coupler



2 Sheets$heet l l 6 J BY ATTORNEYS R. LORENZ ET AL RAILWAY CAR COUPLERFiled March 15, 1932 Aug. 1, 1933.

Aug. 1, 1933- R ENZ ET AL RAILWAY CAR COUPLER Filed March 15, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS- TTORNEY Patented Aug. 1, 1933' res PATENTorrics RAILWAY CAR COUPLER Rudolf Lorenz and Heinrich'Egen,

many, assignors'to Fried.

Essen, Ger-v Krupp Aktiengesell-;

schaft,- Essen, Germany, a Corporation of Germany Application'March 15,1932, Serial No. 598,900, and in Germany-May 1, .1931

Claims. (01. 21 3-12) IfIhis invention relates to railway car couplers.

In long railway trains, it sometimes happens that uponsudclenbraking,the brakes of the for--' ward cars in the train act more quickly thanthe brakes of the cars in the rear part of the train, thereby causingthe cars bump violently into each other. In such cases, there ariseinertia forces in the cars acting transversely of the direction of .thetrack, which forces 0 maybe due for example, to non-uniform loading ofthe cars and which tend to displace the cars transversely of thedirection of the track.

An object of this invention is to provide the couplers with meansforclamping the couplers to prevent turning movement thereof under theconditionsabove described and thereby oppose the tendency of the cars.to be displacedunder such conditions.

Other objects, novel features and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section ment of the invention;

, Fig. 2 is a section on the I Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figl; i Fig. sis a view similar to Fig. 1, but with the clamping means inoperative position;

Figs. 5 and 6 are views similar to Fig. 1 of modified forms of theinvention, and

Fig. '7 is a diagrammatic view.

Referring now more especially to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, A is a couplerrod having arms a which lie on opposite sides of a bar 13 and a pivotpin C passes through the arms and the bar to pivotally connect the rodAto the bar B. The bar B is provided with trunnions b w between plates Eslidably mounted in guides (2 supported by the longitudinal beams Dattached to the car body. The arms a of the rod A are provided with lugsa and a formed at their ends with bearing eyes a and a A pin is arrangedin the eyes a and supports a lever F having its free end slotted andoffset from the lever. A second pin is arranged in the eyes a andsupports a lever G which lies in the slotted end of the lever F. A pin fconnects the oilset end of the lever F to the lever G, thereby forminglinkage effective to move the arms a toward and awayfrom each other uponswingingmovement of the lever G. The arrangement of the levers is suchthat when the lever G is moved clockwise from the position shown in Fig.1, the arms a are pulled toward each other into to the bar B,therebypreventinghorizontal swingthrough one embodiline 2-2 of Fig. 1;

in the rear section to -ich journal the bar 7 the main portion ofclamping relation.

ing of the rod A. Two yokes H and J are secured to the beams D, thehorizontal portions of the yokes being at different elevations. One rodK of a continuous draft gear (not shown) is connected to the plates E;

During normal operation, the elements of the device are in the positionshown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, and the arms a bear such relation tothe bar B that the coupling rod A is free to swing horizontally.However, if the rod A receives a heavy thrust, it moves to the rightagainst the action of the springs of the continuous draft gear,therebybringing the lever G into engagement with the yokeJ. The lever Gis thereby moved clockwise into the position shown in Fig. t. Suchmovement of the lever draws the arms a toward each other into clampingrelation to the bar B, thereby preventing ing of the moving rod A.couplers are locked to oppose horizontal swing- Accordingly, the thetendency of the cars to be displaced into the relation exagwillreturn'the rod A to its original position and the lever G will be turnedcounterclockwise to its original position, thereby releasing theclamping engagement between the arms a and the bar B and the couplingrod Ais again free to swing horizontally.

In the embodiments disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6, the force for clampingthe rod A to the cross bar is obtained from the air brake system. InFig. 5, the lever G is connected by means of a link L with a piston Mmounted in an air cylinder N carried by the plates E. The cylinder N isconnectedthrough a conduit 0 with the air system. A spring P tends tothe position shown in Fig. 5 in which position the linkage is in itsinoperative position and the coupler is free to swing. Introduction ofair into the cylinder through the conduit 0 causes the piston M to moveto the left, thereby moving the linkage into operative position andbringing the maintain the piston M in In the modification disclosed inFig. 6, the arrangement differs from that disclosed in Fig. 5 merely inthe mounting of the cylinder N. In this embodiment, the cylinder iscarried at the inner end of the plates E, thus making it possible toobviate the necessity of any special stufiing box for the piston rod.The piston is provided with a tubular member which surrounds the pistonstem and extends through one end of the cylinder, this member alsoserving as a-support for the spring P.

In this figure, as well as in Fig. 5, the piston M is slightly removedfrom its limit position so that it is capable of sliding movement topermit vertical oscillation of the coupler without actuating the toggle.

It is evident that various modifications'may be made in the device abovedescribed, without in any way departing from the spirit of theinvention.

We claim 1. In combination with a car frame, a bar slidably mountedthereon, a coupler pivotally attached thereto, and means to clamp saidcoupler to said bar to prevent swinging movement thereof.

2. In combination with a car frame, a bar, a coupler having arms betweenwhich said bar is arranged, a pin pivotally connecting said arms andbar,and means for drawing said arms into clamping relation to the bar toprevent swinging move ment of the coupler.

3. In combination with a car frame, a slide supported thereby, a couplerpivoted to said slide, and means efiective upon inward movement of theslide to lock said coupler against oscillation.

4. In combination with a car frame, a slide having a cross bar, acou,ler having arms between which said cross bar is arranged, a pintween which said cross pivotally connected to said arms and bar, andmeans effective upon inward movement of the slide to draw said armstogether into clamping relation to said bar to prevent oscillation ofthe coupler.

5. In combination with a car frame, a slide having a cross bar, acoupler having arms bebar is arranged, a pin pivotally connecting saidarms and bar, levers pivoted to said arms and to each other for drawingsaid arms into clamping relation to said bar, and means for actuatingsaid levers.

6. In combination with a car frame, a slide having a cross bar, acoupler having arms between which said cross bar is arranged, a pinpivotally connecting said arms and bar, levers pivoted to said arms andto each other for drawing said arms into clamping relation to said bar,and means on said car frame for operating said levers upon movement ofthe slide relative to the car'irame.

'7. In combination with a car frame, a cross bar, a coupler having armsbetween which said cross bar isarranged, a pin pivotally connecting saidarms and bar, levers pivoted to said arms and to each other to formlinkage effective upon actuation of one of said levers to draw the armsinto clamping relation to said bar, and means for actuating said lever.

8. In combination with a bar, a coupler having arms between which saidcross bar is arranged, a pin pivotally connecting said arms and bar,leverspivoted to said arms and car frame, a cross to each other to formlinkage effective upon actuation of one of said levers to draw the armsinto clamping relation to said bar, and pneumatic means for actuatingsaid lever.

9. In combination with a car frame, a slide having a cross bar, acoupler having arms between which said cross bar is arranged, a pinpivotally connecting said arms and bar, levers pivoted to said arms andto each other to form linkage efiective upon actuation of one lever todraw said arms into clamping relation to said bar, and means on said carframe to engage said lever to operate said linkage upon movement of theslide relative to the car frame.

10. In combination with a car frame, a slide having a cross bar, acoupler having arms between which said cross bar is arranged, a pinpivotally connecting said arms and bar, levers pivoted to said arms andtoeach other to form linkage effective upon actuation" of one lever todraw said arms into clamping relation to said

